In The Long Run
by florencebisson
Summary: Unrelated series of one-shots about Aria, Ezra and Malcolm going trhough different challenges and fluffy moment. Written in collaboration with @GETOUTJACKIE


**Hello guys! So I wrote this fanfiction in collaboration with GETOUTJACKIE on twitter! So thrilled about you reading this! This will be a series of unrelated one shots about Ezria and Malcolm going through random fluff and hardships. Enjoy. **

* * *

"Two more days baby just forty-eight more hours and I'll be home to you, can't wait to see you! Infinite love, -Ezra" Aria read and re-read the text Ezra had just sent her, a smile washing upon her now reddened cheeks. Ezra had been on some business trip in New Orleans about an upcoming editing deal he had been asigned. He had been gone for nearly eight days now and each day Aria missed him even more, as if that was even possible. Without hesitation Aria quickly replied, "Counting down the seconds babe, I can't wait till I'm back in your arms. I love and miss you so much. XOX -Aria"

Malcolm broke Aria's train of thought, tugging on her jeans. "Should we hang the white lights or the coloured ones?" he asked, genuinely concerned by the problem before him. He took a step back and extended his arms, considering his options. Aria giggled in amusement. "We can hang both if that makes you happy! The white ones on that window and the coloured ones on the other!" she exclaimed, pointing the windows as she spoke.

They wanted to surprise Ezra and decorate the apartment before his return so they could be in a full Christmas atmosphere. Aria couldn't help but smile because today, Ezra would finally be home again. Malcolm had been missing his dad tremendously and Aria couldn't not include Malcolm in their Christmas Eve plans. After all he was still Ezra's son and this would be their first Christmas together, as a family. She then decided to pick him up earlier that day and bring him to Ezra's and await his return.

On cue, the oven's timer sounded lightly and Malcolm's excitement increased. He jumped up, tossing the decorating lights on the floor.

"Woah, gentle there. You wouldn't want to break them now, would you? Go get a chair and I'll get the cookies out of the oven" she told him, scolding him lightly in the begging. She went to the kitchen and grabbed the oven mitts and put them on to retrieve the gingerbread cookies. She placed the baking tray filled with cookies on the counterand Malcolm dropped a chair next to her and went back to his bag. He came in running and slid on the floor only to stop abruptly next to Aria, a huge smile gracing his childlike features. He was dressed with an apron and a chef hat. The small boy raised on his tiptoes, peering at the cookies.

"Do you think we should ice them now? Are they ready?" he asked, grabbing the side of the counter to steady himself. He kept looking at the cookies until Aria spoke, tentatively touching one of them to see if they had cooled.

"I think they are. Why don't you grab the frosting in the fridge and we can put some food coloring in it to make it cooler?" she suggested, raising her eyebrows in a silly way.

Malcolm burst out laughing and agreed, nodding. He travelled the short distance to the fridge and pulled out the big bowl of icing and set it on the counter near the cookies before he went to retrieve the food coloring from the pantry as Aria took two different bowls out of a cupboard to divide the icing in two colours and leave some white. Malcolm walked back and watched Aria as she separated the icing into different bowls and asked him to add some liquid color as she stirred the soft icing. When they decided they liked the colors they had created, Aria asked Malcolm to fill the piping bag she had previously taken out of a drawer with green icing to put on the tree-shaped cookies. She held the bag down to his level while the boy clumsily added spoonfuls of the green substance in it. As he dropped the last one, icing went all over Aria's hands and shirt. Her mouth dropped open and she looked at him with a mock stupefied expression. The seven year old boy tried to contain his giggles but failed miserably. He wiped the back of the spoon on Aria's cheek and that was all it took to set her off.

"You did not just do that" she said in a playful stunned way. She dipped two of her fingers in the bag she held and wiped the greasy mixture on his nose and cheeks.

Malcolm jumped back in surprise. He was quick to respond as he stole the piping bag from Aria's hands and smeared so more icing on her shirt. They both laughed uncontrollably, trying to put as much icing on one another as possible. Aria was left unarmed, so she grabbed the bowl filled with red icing and scooped some on her fingers before running after Malcolm through the small apartment. He stumbled and fell lightly on the floor, laughing until his stomach hurt. Aria came to a stop beside him and took the opportunity to drop the icing on her fingers on his nose, making him look funny. She threw her head back in laughter and he joined her.

"Red nose reindeer!" she spoke between laughs, laying on the floor beside him.

"I'm Rudolph!" he shouted, falling in yet another fit of laughter.

They both laid there breathless. As soon as they stopped laughing, one would steal a glance at the other and it would start all over again. After ten minutes, they helped each other up and noticed the mess they had created on one another. Malcolm had a goofy smile on his face when they went to the bathroom to look at their faces. They snapped a picture with Aria's cellphone making the same goofy faces, and she instagrammed it, tagging "My little Rudolf". They then proceeded to clean off the frosting from their faces.

"We don't have any green frosting left for the trees buddy, I wonder why!" she stated ironically as she looked around the kitchen, smirking. He laughed out loud and thought for a moment.

"We could do them white with red decorations, like it snowed on them. People will see nothing but fire!" he exclaimed, making Aria laughed. She ruffled his hair and proceeded to fill another pouch with white icing, preventing another fight by doing it on her own. She placed a star tip at the end of the bag and handed it to Malcolm.

"You do the honors of piping the first one, Chef Fitz!"

Malcolm looked at her hesitantly, mumbling.

"What, you're not into it anymore?" she wondered, concerned.

"No… It's just that… I don't want to mess up and have Santa think my cookies are ugly" he confessed, lowering his head.

Aria smiled softly and gently coaxed him into looking at her.

"Hey buddy, look at me." She spoke softly with a reassuring smile. He looked up, still reluctant.

"I promise you that if put your best efforts and all your love into it, Santa will find them perfect. You just have to try and I'm sure that if he sees that they're handmade, he'll be impressed. Not just any seven year old boy is able to pipe cookies!" she exclaimed, lightly pushing his shoulder to make him smile.

"Are you sure?"

"I am 100% sure. Anyway, I've been doing this for a long time now, I know the strings" she answered confidently.

"Will you help me then?" he asked with the same puppy-dog eyes Ezra used on her to will her into doing something.

"Of course I will. Come here" she answered, making him step on a chair so he was higher up above the cookies. She wrapped her arms around his tiny frame and directed his movements gingerly.

"Just like that. Perfect! Do you want to add one more here?" She encouraged him, smiling at how hard the little boy was concentrating to make the most beautiful cookies he could manage to do. His nose was scrunched up and his brows met in the middle, deep in concentration. Just like his father, she thought, butterflies in her stomach.

That simple thought brought her to think about a possibility. Would it ever be like this with her and Ezra's children? She even found herself looking for similarities between her and Malcolm, almost wishing to be sharing this precious moment with her own child. She was snapped out of her reverie by her boyfriend's boy, asking her for advice.

"Should we add a button to the snowman or do you think he's fine with three? Do the snowmen on the North Pole have three or four buttons?" he asked, intrigued.

"I really don't know bud, maybe we should look it up!" she offered, letting him climb down from the chair. He went straight for Aria's iPad in the living room, unlocking it and pushing on the home button to open Siri. She watched him as he handled the device.

"Look up: How many buttons does a snowman have? On internet" he requested, his small voice serious.

Siri pulled up a Safari page holding his answer and he counted the buttons on multiple pictures before he pulled back the screen protector and rested the iPad on the coffee table. He went to stand in front of Aria and pulled out his fingers one by one, counting.

"Two buttons on the second ball and three other on the third ball" he finally stated, pulling his fingers down.

"Good. Let's finish those snowmen while we wait for daddy, shall we?"

* * *

It's was past 9:30pm and worry began to wash over Aria. Ezra was supposed to be home hours ago and Malcolm was growing impatient and emotional. When all the cookies had been piped and all the decorations hung, tiredness and his father's absence took over him.

"Malcolm, honey, why don't you go change into the pajamas your mother packed and I'll get some cookies and milk ready for Santa."

Obviously what boy would refuse and Malcolm ran to the door where his bags were and picked up his clothes and sprinted to the washroom yelling "Yes". Aria took this time to grab her iPhone and send a text to Ezra.

"Ezra, it's nearly ten and you're not home yet and I'm starting to get worried. I hope you're alright! Answer this when you can. I love you! -Aria"

Within seconds Ezra texted back.

"Sorry I fell asleep on the plane and forgot to text you. It's snowing really bad and all the flights are delayed. I might just stay in a hotel tonight to be safe. I'm sorry I might not make it home in time for Christmas. Tell Malcolm I love him and I'll see him soon. Oh and I guess I love you too ;). Xoxo -Ezra."

";). Xoxo -Ezra" clearly Ezra has been dying to see her or to share an intimate moment, since he never texted that.

Aria went to pour a glass of milk and chose two different cookies and settled both on the coffee table near the tree they had decorated weeks prior.

It had been ten minutes since Malcolm went into the bathroom and Aria, being as paranoid as she was, went to check on him.

When she got up to the door, she pressed her ear against the wood. She heard soft whimpers from inside.

She knocked softly on the door trying `not to startle the little boy and spoke, "Malcolm sweetie is everything alright in there?"

"Ya" said Malcolm in a crying whisper. Aria could detect he had been crying but what for?

Before Aria could speak again Malcolm's little hands fumbled with the lock on the bathroom door and opened it running to the couch with his hands on his tear stained face.

"Malcolm" Aria said, sitting next to him, "what's the matter hun?" He stammered on his words and tried to speak between tears. Aria rubbed his back in a comforting way, tentative at first. They had had fun times earlier but she still wasn't entirely sure where her boundaries with the child were. She shushed him gently and told him to catch his breath and take his time before speaking. Eventually, the boy curled in Aria's chest and whimpered. She was surprised by his gesture and tensed up. She relaxed quickly, not wanting Malcolm to feel unwelcome. She held him until he had calmed down enough to speak coherently.

"This was supposed to be my first Christmas with Dad and he's not there yet. I'm just really really disappointed." He sniffled, whipping his red, puffy eyes.

Aria took a moment, considering carefully what the young boy had said before she answered.

"You wanna know what I think?" she told him in his ear, like it was a secret.

"What?" he whispered back, his mind taken off of the problem he was worrying so much about for an instant, making him smile.

"Your daddy told me last week before he left how thrilled he was to finally be spending Christmas with his favourite boy" she whispered, insisting on the word thrilled.

"But I'm his only boy!" Malcolm giggled, talking to her in a "duh" tone.

'You never know!' Aria thought ironically but brushed it off. She was past the numerous list of exes jumping in out of the blue in their relationship. Everybody had a past, but it was no reason not to enjoy the present she had. She had learned that over time.

"Anyway, he told me how impatient to come home he was to celebrate this special moment with you and he hadn't even left yet! This silly storm is holding him up, but if I could only be sure of one thing, it would be this: there's not one place in the world your father would rather be right now than here, with you. He loves you so much." She kept on whispering, tears springing in her eyes at her last sentence. She blinked them away before looking at Malcolm. He nodded and buried his face in her neck.

"Do you want to wait for him with me?" she offered. He nodded frantically in her neck and she turned on the television and settled on a Christmas movie.

* * *

Ezra sighed in relief as he set his silver Toyota on park in his driveway. He leaned back against the seat and ran a hand in his hair. He had no energy left after the long drive from the airport to his apartment in the worst storm he had ever driven in. He exited his car and grabbed his suitcase from the trunk. He speed-walked inside and shivered as the door closed behind him. He walked past the mailboxes and reached the elevator. Just as he was about to get in, he shot a look behind his shoulder. He left his suitcase near the open door and walked to the boxes. He got the mail and waited for a second elevator. He checked through the envelopes as he made his way up to 3B. A soft smile graced his face as he noticed a familiar address. North Pole. The red envelope was intended for his seven year old son, currently waiting for him with his gorgeous girlfriend upstairs. He smiled tiredly at the thought. He had been gone to New Orleans for more than a week for a writing meeting for his editing job in a publishing firm. His bosses saw a lot of potential in him and wanted to develop it to the maximum, thus the multiple trips away for different conferences. The main consequence of his many travels was spending time away from his lived ones. He missed the close relationship he had with Aria more than ever, feeling like the physical distance between them had had an effect on it. He also missed his son and the light he brought in his life. Saying those moments away tore him up inside would've been an understatement. He was determined to be there for both of them on Christmas, so he had insisted on driving home through the storm.

Relief washed through him once again as he set foot in the warmth of his apartment. He took off his coat, gloves and shoes as silently as possible. He looked around for the first time and all the tiredness in him was immediately replaced with pure joy. His home was all lit up in Christmas lights and decorated with many ornaments. A sweet scent of gingerbread still floated in the air. The sight before him made his heart melt. Malcolm was curled in Aria's waist and they were both fast asleep on the couch. The TV channel had switched to Christmas music seeing it was past midnight. Then, he noticed the plate of cookies and the glass of milk resting on the coffee table near the decorated tree. His smile only grew. He walked over to the cookies and picked up the plate, tasting the homemade cookies. He walked over to the kitchen and the mess he saw left him stunned. A mess of colourful frosting covered the counter and the walls from top to bottom. A plate filled with various cookies rested on the counter. He shook off his surprised demeanor and laughed it off, assuming Aria and Malcolm had had a really good time together.

He was so happy that they were spending time together and getting along well after what he could only describe as a rocky start. He leaned against the counter and watched his two angels sleeping on the couch as he finished the last of Santa's special treat. He noticed the effort his son had surely put in the making of those and he felt proud. Malcolm shifted position on the couch, and Aria instinctively moved to adjust. Her arms wrapped themselves tighter around the little boy and he mumbled in his sleep.

Ezra's heart leaped in his chest. He could definitely get used to this quiet, loving atmosphere. He loaded his dishes in the dishwasher and walked over to the couch. He was torn about moving Malcolm and Aria, seeing as they looked so comfortable, but he knew Aria would curse herself for sleeping like this in the morning. He gingerly lifted Aria's arms from Malcolm's waist, careful not to startle her. She moved around in the slightest way and Ezra took a step back, holding his breath. She settled down and Ezra breathed out, glad he hadn't woken her up. He gently picked up Malcolm once he was certain Aria wouldn't wake up and transported him to the bed on the other side of the apartment. Usually he would install an air mattress or the boy would sleep on the couch but tonight Ezra was too tired to do either one of those. He pulled back the covers with one arm and holding Malcolm with the other. The child had wrapped his arms around his father's neck as a reflex. Ezra laid him down in the bed and as the soft glow of the Christmas decorations lit the space, he noticed some frosting still on his face and hair. He chuckled quietly and wiped it off his nose. He kissed the little boy's head and murmured a barely audible 'I love you' before he walked back to Aria, sitting beside her, placing a crazy strand of hair behind her ear to be able to see her features. She looked relaxed and peaceful, occasionally mumbling a word here and there. Ezra stared at her lovingly, admiring her still beauty. He wondered every time he looked at her how he had gotten so lucky. They had mutually chosen each other and it had been the best to ever happen in his life.

He inched closer to her to kiss her forehead tenderly. Just as he was about to move away to lift her from the couch, she wrapped her arms around his neck to keep him there.

"Hey handsome" she whispered, her eyes still closed. Their foreheads were pressed against one another. Ezra chuckled and kissed her nose.

"Why, hello to you too. You definitely did not just scare the hell out of me" he whispered back, amused. Aria laughed quietly, her heart swollen with love. She was more than happy to have him back in her arms after that seemingly endless week.

"Welcome home" she replied, opening her eyes and looking directly into his.

Ezra was knocked out of breath as her big hazel eyes stared into his. He couldn't manage to talk coherently, stuttering. His girlfriend laughed at his silliness and brought him down to her to kiss his lips feverishly. He responded with just as much passion, pressing her against the couch with his weight. Her arms travelled from his neck to his shoulders, bringing him even closer, if that was possible. His tongue slipped in her mouth and she moaned. His hands caressed her waist and travelled up her body, lightly brushing the side of her breasts as they went. Aria gasped when Ezra's soft lips left hers to give her neck some attention. She buried her face in his dark locks as he left open mouthed kisses down her cheekbone and on her neck. His lips trailed her collarbone and sucked on her sweet spots. She muffled her moans in his hair, remembering Malcolm sleeping nearby. She brought his lips back to hers; missing the feeling they brought her. She expected it to be passionate. She was taken by surprise by Ezra's gentle, loving and almost careful kiss. His thumb lightly brushed over her cheek, making it redden.

Their lips detached moments later. Aria inched back, star struck.

"I love when you come home" she murmured, still breathless.

"And I love to come home to you" he winked, kissing her nose once again. She blushed a light pink. "You taste sugary" he teased her, pointing at her stained shirt.

"So do you, mister Claus" she teased back, a smirk on her lips.

"That job really doesn't suck, you know. Keeping up the Christmas spirit as long as we can with this one won't be a bad thing" he chuckled.

"I bet. Making them was the best part though" she exclaimed, her eyes lighting up.

"The mess was worth it then?" he questioned amusingly.

"Indeed" she answered, still smiling.

Ezra loved to see Aria with that childish glow in her eyes. Sometimes he wondered if he hadn't pushed her to grow up too fast with all the problems their relationship had faced and it reassured him to witness her like this. She was still herself, her amused, silly and creative self when she wanted to be.

He got up from the couch, extending her arm to her.

"Come on love, it's getting late. We should go to sleep" he coaxed her up gently.

"Wait" she said as she tugged on his arm to bring him back to her after she stood up. "Can we just be here, for a minute?" she asked, quoting herself. She saw he had acknowledged her reference and walked back to her, sliding his arms around her waist to pull her closer.

"Of course, sweetheart" he murmured in her ear, kissing the area right behind it.

Aria rested her head on his shoulder, letting him support her weight. He gently swayed them around his small living room area, following the rhythm of the Christmas love song currently playing softly in the background.

"I don't want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I need

I don't care about the presents

Underneath the Christmas tree"

Ezra spun Aria around gently, and her sweet laugh echoed in the apartment. Malcolm drifted out of sleep, in a daze. He small sleepy eyes watched carefully as his father brought Aria back in his arms, completing the twist. Aria pointed at something on the ceiling and Ezra laughed. He lowered Aria in his arms and kissed her lovingly, making her giggle once again. Malcolm watched them interact and display affection, caught up in their own little bubble. He smiled and closed his eyes, content. He knew that no matter what happened, his dad would be there for the ones he loved, and his new found love for Aria made him happy. He could say he was spending Christmas day with his family. He drifted back to the land of dreaming in no time.

"I just want you for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true...

All I want for Christmas is you."

Aria didn't think her smile could ever get any bigger. Ezra's strong arms brought her back up so she was standing. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and buried her face in his chest, taking a deep breath. His perfume filled her nostril and she felt in heaven. Ezra's deep voice murmured the lyrics to Mariah Carey's song 'All I Want For Christmas' in her ear and she felt like the most loved woman in the entire universe. They continued to sway around, sharing sweet kisses here and there. On the final notes of the song, her boyfriends' arms tightened around her waist and he lifted her up in the air. She rested her elbows on his shoulders and slowly leaned down to kiss him passionately. He swirled her around, and as he did so, Aria didn't think she had ever lived such a precious moment in her life.

* * *

**Since the Holidays are coming, we thought you'd enjoy some Christmas fluff. Please review and have a wonderfull Holiday seasons, stay safe and we love you tons. **

**We'll post part two of the Christmas chapter depending on you reviews, **

**XOXO, Florence and Madison**


End file.
